The True Story of a Girl They Used to Know
by NaomiSpice
Summary: "In a matter of hours I am scheduled to be questioned and then executed after a most likely unfair trial for having relations with the Akatsuki." Heromi's life takes a drastic turn when she has a run-in with the Akatsuki. A split-second decision changes everything- for better, and for worse. Love grows; tensions rise. OC as main.


I thought about running away. I thought about suicide. I thought about what I would do without him. Without Deidara.

I was a normal girl, until I met him. I was a normal girl with a bright future; and loyal to her country. Yet I fell in love with him. I wasn't supposed to; wasn't allowed to.

I was a criminal alongside him for that. In a matter of hours I am scheduled to be questioned and then executed after a most likely unfair trial for having relations with the Akatsuki. To be honest, I knew nothing of what they were after. But the Shinobi didn't know that. They would accuse me of being loyal to the enemy, and kill me anyway.

It's 3 am now. Suffering from house arrest, I lay aimlessly awake in bed. Some things can't be fixed. My mistakes are mine alone, not anybody else's. Memories and images run though my head as I lay awaiting my fate. The day we met is the first to come to mind.

...

My pulse quickened. A cold wind blew in from a window down the hall of my house. Last time I checked, it was locked. At times like this, I was terrified of the dark. Silently as I could, I crept out of bed, inching my way through the dark and down the hall. My eyes were wide, but I still couldn't see a damn thing. I focused a small amount of Chakra into my fist, for protection. My eyes had adjusted as I finally managed to reach the window. Sure enough, it was open- but by force. As I inspected it, I realized the lock was broken, and the frame had been bent. Another cold wave of air blew in, and with it, a snowflake. It was the middle of October; I suppose it was about time for our first snow of the year. However, the chill didn't make my current situation any more pleasant. An unwanted guest was lurking somewhere in the dark, for reasons I did not know. To the right of the window were the stairs leading to the main floor. Surely this is where they, whoever _they_ are, would have gone after coming through the window. A little more Chakra focused into my fist, now much more clenched than it had first been. I crept down the stairs, keeping to the left; it was my best chance of possibly getting a glimpse of my intruder, without them first getting a glimpse of me. I feared the worst, rumors were growing in town these past few days that the Akatsuki was in the country, and on the prowl.

Standing on the last few steps, I peered around the corner behind me; I could see the layout of my shop. The shelves all seemed in order, herbs and spices in their natural place. I traced my eyes around the space to find the counter, where the register was. I quickly dew back. A dark figure was kneeling by the lower cabinet. Probably looking for the key to the safe I kept hidden in a drawer. Having no luck, the individual returned to the safe, waggling the dial to try and open it. This was my chance. While the intruder was occupied, I rushed at them, fist first- but they were faster.

"Zouta?" My eyes widened with shock.

"Get out of my way, Heromi."

Zouta had grabbed my arm, and braced his knee against my chest to stop my momentum. I felt a tear scrambling around in the corner of my eye, waiting to fall. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I need money. I didn't want it to have to come to this, I know you work hard for this money, but I have debts to pay. And the recipients are very impatient. I'm sorry."

Zouta was my lover, and I trusted him. But that trust had been broken. I felt betrayed. Zouta pushed me back, and no longer having strength, I fell to the floor. He was apparently able to open the safe without the key, and I watched as he gathered all that I had saved into a bag. He turned to look at me. Somewhat more resentful now, and moved closer to me. I attempted to get up to run away, but Zouta caught me, pulled me back toward him, and bound my hands behind me with a sealed scroll. I struggled to break it. Despite my wriggling, Zouta took another scroll, and sealed it over my mouth. He delivered a blunt punch to my head, and blackness surrounded my vision.

When I woke, I was still in the dark. I saw a street light in the distance. I was sitting on a stone street, but in an alleyway. The stone pavement was cold and wet from the new snow. Two cloaked figures dropped into the alley from a building. One was very tall; the other was of average height. I felt an arm pull me to my feet, though my feet weren't quite sure if they remembered how to stand. It was Zouta behind me.

"Do you have our intelligence?" The shorter of the cloaked men asked.

"Better- In the flesh as proof." Zouta held my body close to his, and held a kunai to my neck, as if disorienting and sealing me weren't enough. What was going on?

"Who is she? We don't need a hostage. Just information about the Tsuchikage. Un."

"Oh, but she is the Tsuchikage's primary advisor, and she knows everything that you need. I'm no inside man, but she's what you want, believe me." Zouta pushed me forward, but I fell to my knees.

He was lying. What was Zouta getting at? Who were these people? My consciousness was fading again. The cloaked figure who had been talking moved closer, knelt, so that our eyes met. His eyes were calm; he looked at Zouta, and then back at me.

"I don't believe you. Un." The cloaked man rose to his feet, stepped around me, and grabbed Zouta by the throat, holding him a good 5 inches off the ground. "You're scum. I hate scum. I'll end you. Un."

Then something I can't explain happened. I heard Zouta gag, cry out, and then I heard a loud bang, a crunch, and a thud. The blackness consumed my conscious again.

I was suddenly shaken awake, and daylight filled my eyes. My good friend, Izumi, was by my side. I realized I was in my own bed.

"Heromi! Oh, you've got to come quick! They say they found Zouta in the alley behind the Justice Hall. It's awful!"

What? Was it all a dream?

Izumi yanked me out of bed, and pulled me down the hall. I stared at the window at the end of the hall- the window that was open last night. It was now closed, but the lock still appeared to be broken. I didn't get a sure look at it because Izumi continued to pull me along, down the stairs. I stopped, resisting her urgency to join the commotion.

"Heromi, are you okay?" Izumi stopped a few steps below me. Her face was strewn with concern.

I rubbed my forehead; my head ached. "I had a strange night last night." If Izumi were to ask me to reveal details, I wouldn't know where to start. I'm not even sure if any of it was real.

"Don't tell the shinobi in charge of Zouta's investigation that, or they might suspect you of something. But don't worry, you can tell me all about it later. Come on, let's go."

I followed Izumi through my shop, only to stop again, and notice that the cabinets under the register were all closed. I went back, opened the cabinet, to find the safe was locked again. I had a strange inkling to check its contents. All the money was there. What happened last night?

"Heromi!"

"Sorry, I had to check something."

Izumi led me down town where a large crowd gathered at the mouth of an alley. It must be past noon, many shops along my side of the street were already open.

A well-respected Iwagakure shinobi stood on a crate at the edge of the alley entrance. He announced "Folks, please stay out of our way as we continue to investigate the events that may have occurred here. If you have information pertaining to what might have happened, please speak to either myself, or the other shinobi here. Otherwise, continue about your day. There's nothing to see."

Izumi and I got close enough in the crowd to see a few officers drape a cloth over a body in the alley. They couldn't cover it all, there was flesh scattered about the whole area, and lots of blood. I felt ill taking it all in.

"Izumi, let's go back, I don't feel so good."

A voice in the crowd rose above the other murmurs, "Was this the Akatsuki's doing?" the rest of the mob fell silent, waiting the response of the Shinobi who previously addressed the crowd.

"We…don't know for sure. But there is evidence that it could be. The best advice I have for you is to please keep your families safe at night- we don't want any more accidents."

"Heromi…" Izumi whispered to me, "what if it was that rogue ninja, Deidara. He would do something like this, you know."

Izumi walked with me back to my house, where I cleaned up a bit before going back downstairs to the shop. I was thankful Zouta never hit my face, or else the bruise would leave discoloring on my face for sure, all I had was a goose egg on my head. It would be rude of me to keep my shop closed for a personal reason. Besides, keeping my mind awake and in check was probably important right now. I had finished harvesting some bay leaves, washed them, and prepared them to be dehydrated for storage. A knock came on the frame of the entrance to the shop; I always kept the door open during work hours. It was one of the Shinobi from this morning.

"Miss Heromi, is it okay if I spoke with you for a moment?" A half frown was carved into his lips.

"Yes, that's fine, I'm not particularly busy." I dried my hands on a towel and walked to meet the man.

"You probably heard about the accident last night."

I nod subtly.

"You knew the deceased?"

"Yes, we were in a relationship." My heart-rate quickened under stress.

"How well was your relationship?"

"It was fine, normal, I suppose." My voice quivered and I began to sob, not because Zouta was dead, but because he betrayed me. Our relationship was fine until last night.

The investigator probably thought I was crying for my loss. Better to keep it that way. He looked at me with guilty eyes, as if asking the questions was making my 'grief' more unbearable. "Did he have any enemies that you know of?"

"No, Zouta only had a few friends, and even still, I never saw them much." I wiped my tears and sniffled, reaching for a handkerchief in my apron.

The Shinobi looked at me once more and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Please do contact us if you might have any information that would be helpful. I'm sorry for your loss."

I stood in the middle of my shop, probably looking pathetic. Outside it was a beautiful day. Last night's snow was only a dusting; the warmth of the earth melted it away- another reason to believe it was all just a bad dream. But that shouldn't stop me. I was still alive, well, I had been alive all along; my life was never really in any danger. The guys in the alley even said they didn't want a hostage. Why was Zouta lying in the first place? And if the guys who met him were after intelligence, why did Zouta take my money? I wanted answers. But I have no way of getting them.

I closed up shop, even though it was only 2 o'clock. I put up my apron, locked the register, and went upstairs to sleep away my worries.

Since I had gone to bed so early, after already sleeping half of yesterday away, it didn't surprise me that I woke up at 4am. It was still dark out, and the air was chilly, but not as cold as it had been the night before. Wait- the air was chilly? I immediately darted out of bed to run down the hall and check the window. It was open, but a shadowy shape filled its frame. I stopped in my tracks. Frozen with fear. The shape moved, pulling back what must have been a hood or a mask.

It said, "Glad to see you're still here, and the investigation nins didn't take you away. How are you feeling? Un."

That accent! "I- I—who are you?" I shivered both out of fear, and the cold.

"You didn't answer my question. Un." The individual moved down the hall towards me, his hair was in a high ponytail, with long bangs in the front.

As he came within a few feet of me, the clouds must have cleared outside, because the moon came out, and a beam of silver light fell in from the window. The light brought new perspective to his appearance. A much less serious and intimidating person now stood before me, with compassion in his eyes, the same calm compassion I saw last night. He was young, about my age. His cloak was also much clearer to me now; red clouds swirled on a black backdrop. My mind made the connection- but he interrupted my thoughts.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you. That piece of shit was lying- putting you in danger for his own benefit. He was useless anyway. Un." There was a silence between us, until he spoke again, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. It's best if you don't tell anyone that you saw me… Un."

And in that next moment, our lives changed forever.

A clash came from downstairs, both the cloaked boy and I turned toward the stairs in panic. "Don't let anybody in or out of this building- I want it covered!" An aggressive voice was heard from the source of the noise.

"GO!" the cloaked boy yelled, "RUN, GODDAMNIT!"

Senselessly I ran back into my room, where the boy got in front of me and broke open a window. "Close the door and lock it. Un."

"That won't buy us much time!"

"It'll only take a second!" he growled at me, so I obeyed. He was working something in his hands, only to throw it out the window. A giant white bird came to life, circled around, and came back to the window. "Let's go. Un."

Just as I reached the window, the door began to break, and it did break with one more blow from the other side. A dozen armed Shinobi rushed in. I clambered onto the bird with the boy as quickly as I could, and away we went, into the morning moonlight.

What kind of trouble had I gotten myself into? Before I could begin to imagine, my body stiffened, and shivered. The air was so cold, and grew colder still as the white bird gained altitude. Kneeling on the back of the bird, my arms hugged my torso tightly to keep warm; until a wave of warmth took hold of my entire body. The boy had taken his cloak and draped it over my shoulders. I looked up to him, he was standing, sure-footed, just behind the bird's neck.

"You didn't have to-"

"I know." He interrupted, not making eye contact. "But you were cold."

"Won't you be cold too?" I considered giving it back, or sharing it…

"Nah. I'm used to the chill of high-flying. Un."

Something tells me this is not how a member of the Akatsuki normally behaves. Otherwise, I don't think they would be the most hated of all defective shinobi.

_"Was this the Akatsuki's doing?"  
__"We…don't know for sure. But there is evidence that it could be. The best advice I have for you is to please keep your families safe at night- we don't want any more accidents." "Heromi…what if it was that rogue ninja, Deidara. He would do something like this, you know."  
_Would he? Could this be?

"Dei..dara?" I tested my hypothesis.

"Hmm?" He still didn't make eye-contact.

I swallowed hard, "What are we- what am I going to do now? Those men were after you, weren't they?"

"Yes."

"They're now after me too, right?"

"Right. Un." Silence followed, for a moment that seemed like an eternity. The moonlight had faded, but the crescent remained in the sky, faintly glowing, as the sun's pinkish glow took over the horizon.

"Can I ask where we are going?"

"Nowhere- We're already there. Un." He turned to look at me for the first time since the flight began, smirked, and said, "Hold on tight, I'm hasty with the descents."

I couldn't respond quickly enough, and screamed when the great bird took a nose-dive toward the earth, passing through the clouds at high speed. Clutching Deidara's cloak around my arms with one hand, I instinctively snatched at the bird's back with the other- to realize the bird was soft, putty-like, and lacked feathers. The consistency of the bird was the least of my worries for the moment. I clenched my eyes shut, we had to be going at least 70km/hour, and practically vertical. until the bird swooped up- well- to become level again. It flapped its blocky wings, and an arm lightly pulled me to my feet.

"You can open your eyes now. Un." There was a smile in Deidara's tone. I'm sure I looked like a fool.

My eyes opened, to meet his, only for a moment. Another person wearing an Akatsuki coat ran up to the bird.

"Ohhh Senpai-senpai! Who might this be?" The man, despite his height, had a very childish voice. A swirly orange mask covered his face, with only one eye hole.

"Shut it- Tobi. This wasn't part of the plan. We ran into some complicated business. Un." Deidara grimaced.

I remained silent, not wanting to justify my burdensome state. I felt it was clear that I was unwanted baggage.

"Okay- I won't tell Leader. Do we have to change course then?" The Tobi person skipped behind Deidara, as he led me from the clearing where we landed, to a small patch of forest.

"Probably. Only a small detour, though. I don't want to be late for our next …confrontation. Un." Deidara let go of my arm, his face flushed slightly, realizing his coat was still around me. He took it back without a word. "Will you be okay to camp out here? When we get back I can move you somewhere better. Un."

"Yes. When will you be back?"

"Can't say for sure. But it won't be more than a few days. Un." He pulled on his coat, looking back at Tobi, who was aimlessly standing around, apparently not paying attention to our conversation. "I don't have any camp supplies to spare. We travel light-"

"I'll make do-" Cutting his sentence short, I completed the hand signs Snake-Rat-Ox-Ram-Snake. Trees grew from the earth, and combined with a few that were already present; and transformed. Planks of wood merged to form a circular hut with a wood-shingled roof, and a sturdy door.

I turned to Deidara, only to see both he and Tobi gawking at the wooden construct.

"Senpai. Definitely do not tell Leader."

"Right. Un."

I knew my Kekkei Genkai was rare, and unfortunately somewhat unappreciated in the Hidden Rock, because this Jutsu was a Hidden Leaf thing. But I was proud of my gift, and practiced it in private, using it on occasion to help my herbs grow.

"See? I'll be fine. And there's probably water nearby."

"Okay. See you in a few days. Un." Deidara, avoiding an awkward goodbye, turned back to the clearing where the white bird had been waiting. "Tobi, the faster we leave the less time we have to spend working! Un!"

"Oh. Of course, Deidara-Senpai. On my way!"

And the faster you leave, the sooner you come back. And I'll see you again, Deidara. You've saved my life twice now, when you simply could have left me alone to fend for myself. It would have been the easier solution overall. Everything is going to be different now.

A few days had passed. I managed to use my wood style Jutsu to create furniture- well, just a bed and a table with a chair. I also grew cotton for bedding and sheets. Manually, I dug out a fire pit in the center of my little cylindrical hut. The nights were getting colder, and the morning frost becoming thicker with each day. I wished Deidara had left his coat for me. All I had were the clothes I was wearing the day we fled Iwagakure; A hooded sweater and trainer's capris. I didn't even have shoes. At least food wasn't that difficult to find- or to grow, really. Had I been of ordinary Chakra structure, I would have been screwed. The Kekkei Genkai was a blessing. On the fourth night, I tucked myself in just after dark, shivering. I wish I could keep my fire going all night, but I feared an unwatched flame would go rogue, and consume my humble shelter. That was the last thing I needed. A dreary thought crept in my mind- what if he doesn't come back? I scolded myself for thinking such a thing. He will come back. I hope. I dreamt of hot springs that night.


End file.
